Cylindrical vial with bottom for medicine

ABSTRACT

A cylindrical vial having a bottom, for a medicine, in which an open end of the cylindrical vial is sealed by a needle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can be penetrated, the cylindrical vial including a conical bottom end provided opposite to the open end, wherein the apex of the conical bottom end is located on a central axis of the cylindrical vial at the bottommost point inside the cylindrical vial.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a cylindrical vial, with abottom for a medicine, in which an opening is closed by a rubber closure(needle-penetrable rubber closure) which can be penetrated therethroughwith a syringe needle.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] In general, a vial for a medicine is in the form of a cylinderwith a bottom. The vial is provided at its one end with an opening whichis closed by a rubber closure made of a rubber material, such as butylrubber, after the vial is filled with a predetermined quantity of liquidmedicament. When the liquid medicament is used, a syringe needle ispenetrated into the rubber closure to aspirate the liquid medicamentinto the syringe. In the aspiration operation, the internal liquidmedicament of the vial must be completely transferred into the syringe.Namely, a dosage of liquid medicament is contained in the vial, andhence, if the entirety of the liquid medicament contained in the vialfails to be aspirated, there is a possibility that the expected effectof the dosage of liquid medicament is not achieved.

[0005] Therefore, a doctor or nurse carefully carries out the aspirationoperation of the liquid medicament in the vial. In a conventional vial,in order to aspirate the liquid medicament in the vial completely, it isnecessary to incline the vial at the end of the inspiration operationand to move the front end of the syringe needle to the deepest portionof the vial, i.e., the corner portion of the bottom of the vial tothereby aspirate the liquid medicament remaining therein.

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a cylindricalvial with a bottom, for a medicine, in which the entirety of liquidmedicament in the vial can be completely and easily aspirated by asyringe, without need of inclination of the vial so as to aspirate theliquid medicament remaining at a corner portion of the bottom of thevial by the syringe whose front end is moved to the corner portion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The inventors have conceived that if the needle which ispenetrated into a vial through a needle-penetrable rubber closure isautomatically brought to the deepest or innermost portion of the vial onthe center axis thereof, it is possible to easily aspirate the wholequantity of liquid medicament in the vial into the syringe. Namely, inorder to achieve the above object, a cylindrical vial having a bottom,for a medicine, in which an open end of the cylindrical vial is sealedby a needle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can bepenetrated, the cylindrical vial including a conical bottom end providedopposite to the open end, wherein the apex of the conical bottom end islocated on a central axis of the cylindrical vial at the bottommostpoint inside the cylindrical vial.

[0008] In general, a conventional cylindrical vial having a bottom ismade of a resin material by blow molding. However, it is difficult toprecisely form the conical bottom end by the blow molding. To solve thisproblem, in an embodiment, the cylindrical vial is formed using aninjection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pin beingin the form of a rod having a uniform diameter and having a conicalfront end. Dies other than the core pin are not limited to a specificshape or structure and can be of any structure.

[0009] In another embodiment, the cylindrical vial is formed using aninjection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pin beingin the form of a tapered rod having a conical front end and having anouter diameter gradually increasing from the conical front end towardthe other end thereof. Dies other than the core pin are not limited to aspecific shape or structure and can be of any structure.

[0010] To make it possible to aspirate the whole quantity of liquidmedicament in the cylindrical vial by a needle of a syringe withoutinclining the cylindrical vial, the conical bottom end of thecylindrical vial preferably defines an angle in the range of 30° through70° between the generatrix of the conical bottom end and the centralaxis of the cylindrical vial. If the angle is less than 30°, it isnecessary to increase the length of the cylindrical vial in order toprovide the same capacity as that of a conventional cylindrical vial,and there is a possibility that the needle cannot reach the deepest orinnermost portion of the cylindrical vial. Furthermore, since the massof resin of which the bottom portion of the cylindrical vial isincreased, the cylindrical vial becomes heavy. If the angle exceeds 70°,no effect expected from the conical shape can be obtained.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present invention, acylindrical vial for a medicine is provided, including an axial hollowportion, an open end connected to the axial hollow portion and a closedend opposite to the open end. The open end is sealed by aneedle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can bepenetrated into the cylindrical vial. The closed end includes a conicalbottom end, the apex of the conical bottom end being located on acentral axis of the axial hollow portion at the bottommost point insidethe axial hollow portion.

[0012] In an embodiment, the axial hollow portion is formed using aninjection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pin beingin the form of a rod having a uniform diameter and having a conicalfront end.

[0013] In another embodiment, the axial hollow portion is formed usingan injection molding die assembly including a core pin, the core pinbeing in the form of a tapered rod having a conical front end and havingan outer diameter gradually increasing from the conical front end towardthe other end thereof.

[0014] Preferably, the conical bottom end of the cylindrical vialdefines an angle in the range of 30° through 70° between the generatrixof the conical bottom end and the central axis of the axial hollowportion.

[0015] The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained inJapanese Patent Application No. 2000-201936 (filed on Jul. 4, 2000)which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The invention will be discussed below in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which;

[0017]FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of a vialfor a medicine in which an open end is sealed by a needle stickablerubber closure, according to the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a lower portion of FIG. 1; and,

[0019]FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an injection molding dieassembly for producing a vial for a medicine, according to the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0020]FIG. 1 shows a bottomed cylindrical vial 10 which is filled with aliquid medicament, according to an embodiment of the present invention.The cylindrical vial 10 is long and elongated and is provided with aclosed end and an open end 11 which is closed by a rubber closure(needle-penetrable rubber closure) 20. The rubber closure 20 is providedon its center portion with a reduced thickness portion 21 through whicha needle of a syringe can be penetrated. The rubber closure 20 issecured, in a liquid-tight fashion, to the open end 11 by a retainer(rubber closure holding member) 22.

[0021] The axial hollow portion 12 of the bottomed cylindrical vial 10has a rotationally symmetrical shape with respect to the axis 10X of thecylindrical vial 10 and has a uniform diameter over the overall lengththereof from the open end 11 to a conical bottom 13 thereof. The conicalbottom 13 is deepest at the apex of the cone located on the axis 10X andgradually decreases the depth toward the periphery thereof. The angle α(FIG. 2) defined between the generatrix of the conical bottom 13 and theaxis 10X is preferably in the range of 30° to 70°, from the viewpoint offacilitation of use, and is more preferably in the range of 40° to 60°.

[0022] The bottomed cylindrical vial 10 is made of a resin material byinjection molding. FIG. 3 schematically shows an injection molding dieassembly. The injection molding die assembly 30 is provided with a corepin (rod-like central die) 32 in the form of a rod whose diametercorresponds to the inner diameter of the axial hollow portion 12 andwhich has a conical front end 31 corresponding to the conical bottom 13,and a pair of right and left split dies 33 and 34 which definetherebetween a molding cavity 10M for the bottomed cylindrical vial 10,together with the core pin 32. At least one of the split dies 33 and 34is provided with a gate 35 through which a molding resin material isintroduced into the molding cavity.

[0023] Various split structures of the split dies 30 to define themolding cavity 10M can be used, provided that the axial hollow portion12 is formed by the core pin 32, and that the core pin 32 is provided onits front end with the conical portion 31 corresponding to the conicalbottom 13.

[0024] The bottomed cylindrical vial 10 for a medicine, which is formedby the injection molding die assembly 30, is washed and is subject toother necessary operations. Subsequently, a liquid medicament is filledin the axial hollow portion 12 of the cylindrical vial 10. Thereafter,the needle-penetrable rubber closure 20 is attached to the open end 11of the cylindrical vial 10 and is secured thereto by a retainer 22 toseal the open end.

[0025] When liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial 10 is used, aneedle 40 attached to a syringe is penetrated into the cylindrical vial10 through the thin portion 21 of the rubber closure 20. The retraction(inward movement) of a plunger in the syringe causes the liquidmedicament in the cylindrical vial 10 to be aspirated into the syringe.When the needle 40 is inserted up to the innermost portion of thecylindrical vial 10, the front end of the needle 40 naturally moves tothe apex of the cone of the conical bottom 13 while being guided by theconical surface. Since the liquid medicament in the cylindrical vial 10is collected in the conical bottom 13, substantially all of the liquidmedicament in the cylindrical vial 10 can be aspirated by the syringewithout needing to incline the cylindrical vial 10.

[0026] Although the core pin 32 of the molding die assembly 30 shown inFIG. 3 has a uniform diameter, it is possible to provide the core pin 32with a tapered peripheral surface for easy release thereof. Namely, thecore pin 32 can be in the form of a slightly tapered rod whose outerdiameter is gradually increased from the conical end 31 toward the otherend. The taper angle should be as small as possible.

[0027] As may be understood from the above discussion, according to thepresent invention, when the liquid medicament in the cylindrical vialwith a bottom is aspirated into a syringe by a needle, it is possible toeasily aspirate the whole quantity of the liquid medicament withoutinclining the cylindrical vial.

[0028] Obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiments of thepresent invention described herein, such modifications being within thespirit and scope of the invention claimed. It is indicated that allmatter contained herein is illustrative and does not limit the scope ofthe present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cylindrical vial having a bottom, for amedicine, in which an open end of said cylindrical vial is sealed by aneedle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can bepenetrated, said cylindrical vial comprising: a conical bottom endprovided opposite to said open end, wherein the apex of said conicalbottom end is located on a central axis of said cylindrical vial at thebottommost point inside said cylindrical vial.
 2. The cylindrical vialhaving a bottom according to claim 1, wherein said cylindrical vial isformed using an injection molding die assembly including a core pin,said core pin being in the form of a rod having a uniform diameter andhaving a conical front end.
 3. The cylindrical vial having a bottomaccording to claim 1, wherein said cylindrical vial is formed using aninjection molding die assembly including a core pin, said core pin beingin the form of a tapered rod having a conical front end and having anouter diameter gradually increasing from the conical front end towardthe other end thereof.
 4. The cylindrical vial having a bottom accordingto claim 1, wherein said conical bottom end of said cylindrical vialdefines an angle in the range of 30° through 70° between the generatrixof said conical bottom end and the central axis of said cylindricalvial.
 5. A cylindrical vial for a medicine, comprising an axial hollowportion, an open end connected to said axial hollow portion and a closedend opposite to said open end; wherein said open end is sealed by aneedle-penetrable rubber closure through which a needle can bepenetrated into said cylindrical vial, and wherein said closed endcomprises a conical bottom end, the apex of said conical bottom endbeing located on a central axis of said axial hollow portion at thebottommost point inside said axial hollow portion.
 6. The cylindricalvial according to claim 5, wherein said axial hollow portion is formedusing an injection molding die assembly including a core pin, said corepin being in the form of a rod having a uniform diameter and having aconical front end.
 7. The cylindrical vial according to claim 5, whereinsaid axial hollow portion is formed using an injection molding dieassembly including a core pin, said core pin being in the form of atapered rod having a conical front end and having an outer diametergradually increasing from the conical front end toward the other endthereof.
 8. The cylindrical vial according to claim 5, wherein saidconical bottom end of said cylindrical vial defines an angle in therange of 30° through 70° between the generatrix of said conical bottomend and the central axis of said axial hollow portion.